Are you stuck in fight, flight or freeze?

Your Ability to Respond to Threat is a Life-saver
But if you Get “Frozen” There, You May Have PTSD.

You are walking alone on a mountain trail at dusk, returning to your car a little later than you’d planned. You’ve always known it’s bear and cougar country, but you’ve never had a bad experience with a wild animal, so you’re not concerned.

Suddenly, you hear a loud snap of a twig behind you. Your heart rate increases; eyesight and hearing become more acute; your head whips around towards the sound, and your muscles tighten as blood flow to them increases. Without conscious thought, you instantly assess the possible threat and choose to flee or fight.

You may have picked up a stone or limb as a weapon or begun to run before you even think. Reading this you may have noticed increased heart and respiration rate, a tingling of the skin, increased perspiration, and a sense of alertness. Your imagination just now may have offered images of escape routes or ways you could fight off the imagined attack.

Highly stressful or life-threatening experiences arouse vast amounts of survival energy and emotion — the well-known fight-or-flight response, shared with all animals. Our lower or reptilian brain and sympathetic nervous system arouses instantly to maximize our chance of survival. Merely thinking about such a situation activates the same responses. When it takes control, our bodies respond far more rapidly than normally to assess the danger and to fight or flight.

Your nervous system’s response to threat has worked quite well. The proof is that you’re alive and reading this.

We can remember what animals never forgot.

Think of an animal in the wild — a rabbit, for example. It may be calmly eating one moment at the edge of a meadow, and running for its life from a wolf the next. Imagine if that happened to you! That would be pretty traumatic, having a hungry animal determined to catch, kill, and eat you! Yet if the rabbit escapes, then within minutes it will be back to normal life, not traumatized.

Those who have been able to closely observe wild animals notice that during the time immediately following such a chase, a prey animal will “discharge” that powerful “flight-fight” energy by twitching, shaking, jumping, running around vigorously, even making some noise or head-butting some of its own kind in mock-battle. After such discharge, the animal returns to normal.

Were it not for this ability to rapidly discharge adrenalin and excess survival energy, the animal’s ability to meet future threats would be reduced and they would not long survive in the wild.

People can get “frozen” in an incomplete biological response to unavoidable threat. That is PTSD.

Until recently, my life’s experience had always been threatened with a sense of rejection and abandonment. With Paul’s guidance and my own reflection, I have found the awareness of who I am internally, the inner-strength I hold, and the ability to express my emotional and physical being with those around me.— S.C., 22 year old female interior designer

But there is a difference between such responses in modern humans and animals. Even though animals in the wild routinely experience life-threatening situations, after the danger has passed, they quickly return to normal, whereas humans sometimes are stuck with trauma or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In other words, they are stuck in some combination of the nervous system’s fight, flight or freeze response.

It is like having both the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal pressed to the floor at the same time. The person may think they got over the experience, but if they were unable to avoid the danger and didn’t have support to shake off the strong charge of sensations and emotions afterward, that vast amount of survival energy can become stuck in their nervous systems. Weeks, months, or years later, often without even a conscious connection to the traumatic experience, many different kinds of symptoms may appear. Click here for more on symptoms of PTSD.

Such symptoms are normal for a person with an over-stressed nervous system. They have lost resiliency, the natural ability to flow easily between the many moods and energy states necessary to live a full and rich life.

To learn how you can get “un-frozen” from the past and from PTSD, click here.

Clients say…

I am feeling really strong after our session last week and gaining ever more insight into the messages my body has for me. This work is really really amazing!Go to testimonial page

I don't know how you do it Paul, but you sure do give me the perfect support I need in the moment. Thank you. I'm really touched by how much you care, and the way you continue to be there Paul. It means a heck of a lot in this strange world I find myself living in these days. A heck of a lot.Go to testimonial page

Having even a few moments of working through the dynamics of the car accident has given me such a gentle and loving perspective on my body. I've been mentally 'cradling' my spine all evening, just like I held my "little girl" the other day, and it feels so nice!Go to testimonial page

I feel very humble and thankful knowing you hung in there with me through the storm of the last month. Your integrity is what makes you safe, and it never ever waivers, and I am so thankful for that. It was very nice working with you again today. Thank you, so very very much.Go to testimonial page

I think if the last nine months of us working together were to be condensed into a chapter in the book of my life, the title of the chapter would be The Power of Compassion.Go to testimonial page

I've had a major breakthrough today in regards to singing and a release in my body. This is such an amazing feeling!!!Go to testimonial page

And it was also a testament to the sense of safety you create with your clients - even over skype! I've had one other therapist try to use that 2 chair technique with me and it was disastrous. I think at that time I was definitely not feeling safe and my 'Gatekeeper' kicked up a huge fuss and the whole session derailed.Go to testimonial page

I'm a gardener, I sow seeds, I nurture them, and watch them go from tiny seedling into full grown plant. You are a gardener too. You sow seeds in my mind, nurture them and then watch them grow. They just tend to grow faster than the plants I grow!!!Go to testimonial page

I really got a lot from the phone consultation with you the other day. I found that, in half an hour, I was able to get more benefit from noticing my body and following those sensations with compassion and curiosity than I've done in months of talk therapy!Go to testimonial page

I would like to thank you for the session today, it was deep and powerful. Even though I feel tired now I feel more reconnected to myself.Go to testimonial page

Your help was invaluable as always today. Bless you. Somehow it's easier to see all this stuff when you hold a space of acceptance/non-judgement for it all. Big thanks.Go to testimonial page

Before I came to Paul for therapy, my life seemed to be controlled by my emotional reaction to every situation that triggered uncomfortable past memories. Now when a situation brings that emotion to the forefront, I am able to feel it and quickly dismiss it.Go to testimonial page

Paul, I hope this email can convey at least a small portion of my deep gratitude. I'm getting my life back. Overcoming challenges has become much easier. My confidence is building. Using the techniques that you've taught me I'm seeing what's good in my life.Go to testimonial page

I just wanted to let you know how much better I felt this morning than I expected to — hardly any stiffness or soreness at all. So what you did last night sure worked. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you did.Go to testimonial page

I have been down many healing paths to release the trauma of childhood cancer and amputation. Working with Paul got me in touch with a powerful wisdom in my body for healing which I hadn't previously experienced.Go to testimonial page

Thank you for all your help in the past year. I wanted to schedule a 'tune-up' and also just kind of sit down and tell you what a hell of a job you've done with me.Go to testimonial page

I would get an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach regarding issues with my husband. I was very tired of these same old reactions. After one session with Paul I was able to shift, which has allowed me to interact with my husband in a whole new way. Thank you so much.Go to testimonial page

Wow! I feel better, I actually feel. I never write poetry but one just started coming. I think I'm healing!Go to testimonial page

You seem to be someone who really cares if they help their clients as opposed to just collecting a paycheck like some therapists I've dealt with.Go to testimonial page

Thanks for the session we had today, it was very insightful and very helpful. I can already feel a peace that I haven't felt for awhile, which is wonderful!Go to testimonial page

Paul, I am so glad to be working with you. I have been in the healing and medical profession for over 25 years, and I find true 'healers' are rare. True healing comes from a place of deep compassion, caring, and kindness, which I see and experience from you.Go to testimonial page